Note 158 — Chapter XXIX

According to Klaproth’s statement of Japanese legend, in his “Histoire Mythologique,” introductory to Titsingh’s “Annals of the Dairi,” the first three of the celestial gods were solitary males. The next three had female companions, yet produced their successors by the force of mutual contemplation only. The seventh pair found out the ordinary method of generation, of which the first result was the successive production of eight islands, those of Japan (the number eight being selected simply because it is esteemed the most perfect), after which they gave birth also to mountains, rivers, plants, and trees. To provide a ruler and governor for these creations, they next produced Tenshō daijin, or, in Japanese (for Tenshō daijin is Chinese), Ama terasu-no-kami (Celestial Spirit of Sunlight); but, thinking her too beautiful for the earth, they placed her in the heavens, as they did, likewise, their second born, a daughter, also, Tsuki-no-kami, goddess of the moon. Their third child, Ebisu saburō, was made god of the sea; their fourth child, Susanoō, also a son, god of the winds and tempest. He was agreeable enough when in good humor, and at times had his eyes filled with tears, but was liable to such sudden outbreaks and caprices of temper as to render him quite unreliable. It was concluded to send him away to the regions of the north; but before going he got leave to pay a visit to his sisters in heaven. At first he had a good understanding with them, but soon committed so many outrages,—in the spring spoiling the flower borders, and in the autumn riding through the ripe corn on a wild horse,—that in disgust Tenshō daijin hid herself in a cavern, at the mouth of which she placed a great stone. Darkness forthwith settled over the heavens. The eight hundred thousand gods, in great alarm, assembled in council, when, among other expedients, one of their number, who was a famous dancer, was set to dance to music at the mouth of the cavern. Tenshō daijin, out of curiosity, moved the stone a little, to get a look at what was going on, when immediately Te chikara o-no kami (god of the strong hand) caught hold of it, rolled it away, and dragged her out, while two others stretched ropes across the mouth so that she could not get in again. Finally, the matter was compromised by clipping the claws and hair of Susanoō, after which he was sent off to the north, though not till he had killed a dragon, married a wife, and become the hero of other notable adventures. This legend makes it clear what Anjirō, the first Japanese convert, meant by speaking of the Japanese as worshippers of the sun and moon. See ante, p. 49. The annual festival of Tenshō daijin falls on the sixteenth day of the ninth month, immediately after that of Suwa, and is celebrated throughout the empire by matsuri much like that described in the text. The sixteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-sixth days of every month are likewise sacred to her, but not celebrated with any great solemnity. [Also see “Kojiki.”—Edr.]

Kämpfer mentions as the gods particularly worshipped by the mercantile class: 1. Yebisu, the Neptune of the country, and the protector of fishermen and seafaring people, said to be able to live two or three days under water. He is represented sitting on a rock, with an angling-rod in one hand, and the delicious fish, Tai, or Steinbrassin (Sparus Aurata, the Japanese name, signifies red lady), in the other. 2. Dai-koku, commonly represented sitting on a bale of rice, with his fortunate hammer in his right hand, and a bag laid by him to put in what he knocks out; for he is said to have the power of knocking out, from whatever he strikes with his hammer, whatever he wants, as rice, clothes, money, etc. Klaproth states him to be of Indian origin, and that this name signifies Great Black. 3. Toshitoku, represented standing, clad in a large gown with long sleeves, with a long beard, a huge forehead, large ears, and a fan in his right hand. Worshipped at the beginning of the new year, in hopes of obtaining, by his assistance, success and prosperity. 4. Hotei, represented with a huge belly, and supposed to have in his gift, health, riches, and children. [These are four of the “Seven Gods of Happiness.” See also paper on that subject, in vol. viii of the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.—Edr.]